Technical Abstract:
Virological assays of blood from Greater and Attwater's prairie chickens maintained in a captive propagation program in Texas revealed the isolation of a nondefective strain of reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV). The virus was also detected by a polymerase chain reaction test (PCR) in several samples of blood and in one tumor using primers designed for detection of REV from other species including chickens, turkeys and ducks. Serum sample from affected prairie chickens and from quails maintained on the same premises contained neutralizing antibodies to spleen necrosis virus (SNV), a nondefective strain of REV. The data suggest that prairie chickens are susceptible to REV infection and tumors and that quails may have been the source of REV infection in this flock of prairie chickens.